11.16.18 Jon Mulford founded The Wilderness Land Trust in 1992 with a long-range mission to acquire unprotected private land within designated wilderness and return it to public ownership. He cultivated the Trust’s steady and tenacious work ethic with the understanding that some successes take time. In the late 1990’s, Jon established a relationship between the Trust and a company that owned a 345-acre mining property in the Wild Sky Wilderness of Washington state.

A sale was not imminent at that time, but in early 2000, board member Bill Pope picked up the torch and continued the Trust’s connection with the landowners. Bill says it best: “The Evergreen land was one of the largest private properties left in Wild Sky and I knew it was critical for us to protect it, no matter how long it took to make it happen.”

While it took a few more years, we are thrilled to tell you we have closed on the purchase of the Evergreen property, along with Jasperson, a nearby 20-acre property. This critical land will continue to provide clean water for spawning salmon, old growth Douglas Fir and western Hemlock, and the abundance of wildlife that call this area home. It is truly a wild place that is safe from future mining and logging, thanks to the help of our passionate supporters.

We are now working hard to transfer these Wild Sky properties to the Forest Service for permanent Wilderness protection. If you would like to help or want to know more about our work, please visit us and tell us what you think!